Synopsis
Rosie Ming, a young Canadian poet, is invited to perform at a poetry festival in Shiraz, Iran, but she’d rather go to Paris. She lives at home with her over-protective Chinese grandparents and has never been anywhere by herself. Once in Iran, she finds herself in the company of poets and Persians who tell her stories that force her to confront her past: the Iranian father she assumed abandoned her and the nature of poetry itself. The film is about building bridges between cultural and generational divides. It’s about being curious, staying open and finding your own voice through the magic of poetry.
The film’s voice actors include Sandra Oh (Rosie), Ellen Page (Kelly, Rosie’s best friend), Don McKellar (a young poet named Dietmar), Shohreh Aghdashloo (Mehrnaz, a professor at the University of Tehran) and Nancy Kwan (Gloria, Rosie’s overprotective grandmother). More than a dozen animators, including Kevin Langdale, Janet Perlman, Bahram Javaheri and Jody Kramer, worked on the film with Fleming.
Festivals
- OFFICIAL SELECTION TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2016
- BEST BRITISH COLUMBIA FILM and BEST CANADIAN FILM VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2016
- JURY PRIZE-FEATURE FILM BUCHEON INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION FESTIVAL 2016
- AUDIENCE AWARD ANIMASYROS-INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION FESTIVAL AND FORUM 2016
- CENTENNIAL BEST CANADIAN FILM AWARD REEL ASIAN 2016
- INDEPENDENT COMPETITION SANTA BARBARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
- ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC – ORIGINAL SCORE SELECTION CANADIAN SCREEN AWARDS 2017
- BEST SCREENWRITER/BEST CANADIAN SCREENPLAY – Ann-Marie Fleming VANCOUVER FILM CRITICS CIRCLE 2017
- BEST PICTURE CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF ONLINE FILM CRITICS
- OFFICIAL SELECTION HOLLAND ANIMATION FILM FESTIVAL 2017
- HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD / NARRATIVE FEATURES COMPETITIONRIVERRUN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
- BEST INTERNATIONAL FILMJULIEN DUBUQUE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
- AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERNASHVILLE FILM FESTIVAL 2017
- BEST FEATURESTUTTGART FESTIVAL OF ANIMATED FILM 2017

Production Team
Director
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Ann Marie Fleming
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Country
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Canada
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Runtime
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90 min
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Language
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English & Persian with English Subtitles
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Premiere Status
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|
Classification
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18+
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Year
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2016
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Screenwriter
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Ann Marie Fleming |
Producer
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Sandra Oh, Ann Marie Fleming, Shirley Vercruysse, Michael Fukushima
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Animation
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Kevin Langdale, |
Editor
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Ann Marie Fleming, Ileana Pietrobruno, Jean-Denis Rouette |
Cast
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Sandra Oh, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Payman Maadi, Ellen Page, Omid Abtahi
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